Feedback Loop for Gift Card Utilization

ABSTRACT

A system and method for communicating gift card purchases, performed at a server, includes receiving a request from a benefactor to establish a gift card account for a beneficiary; creating a gift card account record which stores an identifier of the beneficiary and contact information of the benefactor; receiving a request from the beneficiary to purchase an item; receiving or acquiring a digital identifier of the item; and in response to the request from the beneficiary: authorizing the requested purchase; and sending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the gift card account record. The gift message includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchased item.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/481,768, entitled “System and Method for Communicating PurchasesRelated to a Gift Card Credit,” filed on May 25, 2012, which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed implementations relate generally to providing feedbackabout gift card usage to the benefactors who provided the gift cards.

BACKGROUND

Use of stored-value instruments has increased dramatically in recentyears. Consumers purchase or otherwise obtain stored-value instruments,often in the form of gift cards, and use a monetary value associatedwith these instruments to purchase goods or services at associatedmerchants or as accepted by credit card network participants, such asaffiliates of credit card accounts.

Prior art gift cards provide a restricted monetary equivalent or scripthat is issued by retailers or banks to be used as an alternative to anon-monetary gift. Highly popular, gift cards ranked in year 2006 as thesecond-most given gift by consumers in the United States and themost-wanted gift by women, and the third-most wanted by males. Giftcards have become increasingly popular partially because their userelieves the benefactor of the gift card of the responsibility ofselecting a specific gift. In addition, the gift card process enables arecipient, or beneficiary, of the gift card to expend and associatedmonetary value at his or her discretion within the restrictions set bythe issuing agency.

Gift cards are often purchased and given as gifts by a benefactor whowishes to create or strengthen a personal, social or businessrelationship with a beneficiary-recipient of the gift card or a giftedmonetary value account. Yet the prior art fails to optimally enable oreven encourage communication between a benefactor who buys or originatesa gift card or gifted monetary account and a beneficiary who receivesthe gift card or control over a gifted monetary value account.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invented method to provide a method and a systemthat enable the association and communication of a sensoryrepresentation, to include an auditory representation and/or a visualrepresentation, of an item purchased by a beneficiary of gift card inconsideration for the expenditure of a monetary value assigned to thegift card.

Towards these objects and other objects that will be made obvious inlight of this disclosure, a system and method are provided forassociating a gift card or a purchasing of an item with a sensoryrepresentation of the purchased item, wherein the sensory associationmay include an association with digitized audio data and/or digitizedvisual, photographic or video data.

It is understood that the purchased item may be a good, a service, or alicense, lease, or permission to use or access a good, service,equipment, locale or venue. It is further understood that the sensoryrepresentation may be a digitized sound recording, a digitizedphotograph, a graphics image, an icon, a visual symbol and/or otherdigitized record of a sensory phenomenon, event or experience.

According to one aspect of the method of the present invention(hereinafter, “the invented method”), a benefactor provides a gift cardhaving an associated monetary value to the beneficiary. The beneficiarymay then purchase an item and select a visual representation of thepurchased item. The visual representation of the purchased item may becommunicated to the benefactor by means of a communications network,such as the Internet or a telephony network, or a computer network incommunication with a telephony network. Alternately, the visualrepresentation of the item may be associated with the item by a thirdparty prior to the purchase by the beneficiary, or the visualrepresentation may be assigned or selected by a third party at the timeof the performance of the purchase.

According to another aspect of the invented method, the visualrepresentation of the purchased item may be selected from a photosharing service of the World Wide Web or other Internet service.Alternately or additionally, the visual representation of a purchaseditem may be generated by means of a digital camera, or an electronicdevice having a digital camera such as a photographically enabledcellular telephone, personal computer, or portable communicationsdevice.

According to yet another aspect of the invented, the visualrepresentation of the purchased device may be communicated from adigital camera or a web service and communicated in an electronicmessage, such as email or an SMS transmission, to a cellular telephone,an email account, a web service, or a photo sharing web-based service.

According to a still other aspect of the invented method, thebeneficiary alone is personally authorized to expend the monetary valueprovided by the benefactor in a transfer of ownership and control of agift card, a monetary value account associated with the gift card,and/or a monetary value account unassociated with a gift card.

According to yet other optional, additional and/or alternate aspects ofthe invented method, the beneficiary may expend some or all of thegifted monetary value in an online purchase.

According to even other optional, additional and/or alternate aspects ofthe invented method, the beneficiary may expend some or all of thegifted monetary value in a purchase performed in whole or in part whilethe beneficiary or his or her agent is physically present at a point ofsale or within a retail sales facility.

According to still other optional additional and/or alternate aspects ofthe invented method, the beneficiary may expend some or all of thegifted monetary value in a purchase performed in whole or in part bymeans of an automated telephony system and/or by telephonic voicecommunications with a retail sales representative.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These, and further features of the invention, may be better understoodwith reference to the accompanying specification and drawings depictingthe preferred embodiment, in which:

FIG. 1A is a view of a front side of a gift card;

FIG. 1B is a view of a back side of the gift card of FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronics communications networkthat includes a financial account database server, a point of salesystem, a retail webservice server, and a mobile device having a digitalphotographic module;

FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary first gift accountrecord that relates the gift card of FIGS. 1A and 1B to accountinformation maintained in the financial account database server of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of an exemplary first gift messagethat is generated in the process of an instant purchase according to oneaspect of invented method as enabled by the electronics communicationsnetwork of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a process chart of a first aspect of the invented system asenabled by the communications network of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a process chart of the interaction of the exemplary first giftcard of FIG. 1 with the electronics communications network of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another aspect of the present invention appliedin an online transaction and performed by either the mobile device orthe point of sale system of the electronics communications network ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the process of the financial account databaseserver of FIG. 2 in accordance with certain aspects of the inventedmethod;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the mobile device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a mobile memory of the mobile deviceof FIGS. 2 and 9;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the point of sale system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the financial account database serverof FIG. 2;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an alternate purchase reporting process of theinvented method that is executable by the mobile device in communicationwith the network and the point of sale system of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an alternate purchase reporting process of theinvented method that is executable by the point of sale system incommunication with the network and the mobile device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an alternate and optional online purchasingprocess of the invented method that is executable by the mobile devicein communication with the network and the retail webservice server ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 16 is a flow chart of a software code executable by the POS systemof FIG. 2 imposes one or more optional purchase aspects of the inventedmethod, wherein a user is required to identify himself or herself asauthorized to apply a gift account record of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATIONS

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to particularaspects of the present invention described, as such may, of course,vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein isfor the purpose of describing particular aspects only, and is notintended to be limiting, since the scope of the present invention willbe limited only by the appended claims.

Methods recited herein may be carried out in any order of the recitedevents which is logically possible, as well as the recited order ofevents.

Where a range of values is provided herein, it is understood that eachintervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unlessthe context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lowerlimit of that range and any other stated or intervening value in thatstated range, is encompassed within the invention. The upper and lowerlimits of these smaller ranges may independently be included in thesmaller ranges and are also encompassed within the invention, subject toany specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the statedrange includes one or both of the limits ranges excluding either or bothof those included limits are also included in the invention.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods andmaterials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also beused in the practice or testing of the present invention, the methodsand materials are now described.

It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, thesingular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. It is further noted that the claimsmay be drafted to exclude any optional element. As such, this statementis intended to serve as antecedent basis for use of such exclusiveterminology as “solely,” “only” and the like in connection with therecitation of claim elements, or use of a “negative” limitation.

Referring now to FIGS. 1A and 1B, FIG. 1A is a front side of a gift card2 that includes an issuing agency signage 2.A, a gift account number2.B, an EMV chip 2.C, a hologram image record 2.D, a radio frequencyidentification device 2.E (hereinafter “RFID” 2.E) and a QUICK RESPONSE™network address bar code 2.F, or “QR code” 2.F.

FIG. 1B is a view of a backside of the gift card 2 whereupon a magneticstrip 2.G and a security code 2.H are positioned.

Referring now to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an electronicscommunications network 4 (hereinafter, “the network” 4) that includesthe Internet 6, a telephony network 7, a mobile device 8, a point ofsale system 10, a financial account database server 12, a photo-sharewebservice server 14, a retail web service server 16, a plurality offinancial services servers 18 & 20 and a transponder 22. The mobiledevice 8 is preferably (a.) bi-directionally communicatively coupledwith both the telephony network 7 and the Internet 6, and (b.) adaptedto generate digitized photographic images of purchased items or ofimages related to purchased items. More particularly, the mobile device8 may be or comprise (a.) an IPHONE™ cellular telephone as marketed byApple, Inc. of Cupertino; (b.) an IPAD™ tablet computer adapted forgeneration of digitized photographic documents and capable ofbi-directional communications via the telephony network and the Internet6 as marketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (c.) an HTC TITAN II™cellular telephone as marketed by AT&T Inc. of Dallas, Tex. and runninga WINDOWS 7™ operating system as marketed by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.; (d.) a GALAXY NEXUS™ smart phone as marketed by SamsungGroup of Seoul, Republic of Korea and running an ANDROID™ operatingsystem as marketed by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.; (e.) aTOUGHPAD™ tablet computer as marketed by Panasonic Corporation ofKadoma, Osaka, Japan and running an ANDROID™ operating system asmarketed by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.; or (f.) othersuitable computational system or electronic communications device knownin the art.

The point of sale system 10 (or “POS system” 10) is preferably adaptedfor bi-directional communication via the Internet 6, optionally via thetelephony network, and is further preferably adapted to generatedigitized photographic images of purchased items or of images related topurchased items. The POS system 10 may be or comprise.(a.) anetwork-communications enabled THINKSTATION WORKSTATION™ notebookcomputer marketed by Lenovo, Inc. of Morrisville, N.C.; (b.) a NIVEUS5200 computer workstation marketed by Penguin Computing of Fremont,Calif. and running a LINUX™ operating system or a UNIX™ operatingsystem; (c.) a network-communications enabled personal computerconfigured for running WINDOWS XP™, VISTA™ or WINDOWS 7™ operatingsystem marketed by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; (d.) aMACBOOK PRO™ personal computer as marketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino,Calif.; (e.) an IPAD™ tablet computer as marketed by Apple, Inc. ofCupertino, Calif.; (f.) an IPHONE™ cellular telephone as marketed byApple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (g.) an HTC TITAN II™ cellulartelephone as marketed by AT&T, Inc. of Dallas, Tex. and running aWINDOWS 7™ operating system as marketed by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.; (h.) a GALAXY NEXUS™ smart phone as marketed by SamsungGroup of Seoul, Republic of Korea or and running an ANDROID™ ; (i.) aTOUGHPAD™ tablet computer as marketed by Panasonic Corporation ofKadoma, Osaka, Japan and running an ANDROID™ operating system asmarketed by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.; or (j.) othersuitable computational system or electronic communications device knownin the art.

The financial account database server 12 (hereinafter “the FAD server”12) is adapted for bi-directional communication via the Internet 6, andto optionally communicate via the telephony network, and to retain andmaintain a plurality of gift card records G.REC.1-G.REC.N of FIG. 2. TheFAD server 12 may be or comprise (a.) a network-communications enabledTHINKSTATION WORKSTATION™ notebook computer marketed by Lenovo, Inc. ofMorrisville, N.C.; (b.) a NIVEUS 5200 computer workstation marketed byPenguin Computing of Fremont, Calif. and running a LINUX™ operatingsystem or a UNIX™ operating system; (c.) a network-communicationsenabled personal computer configured for running WINDOWS XP™, VISTA™ orWINDOWS 7™ operating system marketed by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.; (d.) a MACBOOK PRO™ personal computer as marketed byApple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (e.) an IPAD™ tablet computer asmarketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (f.) an IPHONE™ cellulartelephone as marketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (g.) an HTCTITAN II™ cellular telephone as marketed by AT&T, Inc. of Dallas, Tex.and running a WINDOWS 7™ operating system as marketed by MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond, Wash.; (h.) a GALAXY NEXUS™ smart phone asmarketed by Samsung Group of Seoul, Republic of Korea or and running anANDROID™; (i.) a TOUGHPAD™ tablet computer as marketed by PanasonicCorporation of Kadoma, Osaka, Japan and running an ANDROID™ operatingsystem as marketed by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.; or (j.)other suitable computational system or electronic communications deviceknown in the art capable of providing or enabling a financial webserviceknown in the art.

The photo-share webservice server 14 is adapted to enable, and providesto the POS system and/or the mobile device, a photographic documentsharing webservice, such as a server adapted to support (a.) FLICKR™photo sharing webservice provided by Yahoo! of Santa Clara, Calif.; (b.)PICASA™ photo sharing webservice provided by Google, Inc. of MountainView, Calif.; (c.) SHUTTERFLY™ photo sharing webservice provided byShutterfly, Inc. of Redwood City; (d.) FACEBOOK™ social networking andphoto sharing webservice provided by Facebook, Inc. of Menlo Park,Calif.; or (e.) other suitable photo sharing webservices known in theart.

The retail webservice server 16 may be an element of a retail servernetwork, such as the retail sales network maintained by Amazon.com, Inc.of Seattle, WA.

Each of the financial services servers 18 & 20 are adapted to supportand maintain at least one variety of credit account service, debitaccount service, and/or monetary value account service, such as (a.) aMACYS retailer credit card service provided by Macy's Corporation of NewYork, N.Y.: (b.) a VISA™ credit card service provided by Visa, Inc. ofFresno, Del.; (c.) a debit card service as provided by a bank or otherfinancial institution, such as Bank of America of Charlotte, N.C.; or(d.) other financial services account service known in the art.

The retail webservice server 16 and one or more financial serviceservers 18 & 20 may be or comprise (a.) a network-communications enabledTHINKSTATION WORKSTATION™ notebook computer marketed by Lenovo, Inc. ofMorrisville, N.C.; (b.) a NIVEUS 5200 computer workstation marketed byPenguin Computing of Fremont, Calif. and running a LINUX™ operatingsystem or a UNIX™ operating system; (c.) a network-communicationsenabled personal computer configured for running WINDOWS XP™ VISTA™ orWINDOWS 7™ operating system marketed by Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.; (d.) a MACBOOK PRO™ personal computer as marketed byApple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (e.) an IPAD™ tablet computer asmarketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (f) an IPHONE™ cellulartelephone as marketed by Apple, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.; (g.) an HTCTITAN II™ cellular telephone as marketed by AT&T, Inc. of Dallas, Tex.and running a WINDOWS 7™ operating system as marketed by MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond, Wash.; (h.) a GALAXY NEXUS™ smart phone asmarketed by Samsung Group of Seoul, Republic of Korea or and running anANDROID™; (i.) a TOUGHPAD™ tablet computer as marketed by PanasonicCorporation of Kadoma, Osaka, Japan and running an ANDROID™ operatingsystem as marketed by Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.; or (j.)other suitable computational system capable of providing or enabling aretail webservice known in the art.

The transponder 22 is adapted to bi-directionally communicatively couplethe mobile device 8 and the Internet 6. Similarly, the telephony network7 is adapted to provide bi-directional communications coupling betweenthe mobile device and a plurality of telephony devices (not shown) andthe Internet 6.

It is understood that one or more steps or aspects of the inventedmethod may be enabled or provided buy a cloud computing service orasset. The term “cloud computing” as defined and applied within thepresent disclosure refers to the delivery of computing and data storagecapacity as a service enabled by the Internet 6 and often via the WorldWide Web. Cloud computing entrusts Internet-accessible services withdata, software and computational tasking over the network 4. End usersgenerally access cloud based software applications and computationalassets through a web browser or a light weight desktop software programor a mobile software application while the enabling software and dataare stored on servers 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 & 22 at a remote location.Commercially available cloud computing services include Windows AzurePlatform™ cloud computing platform used to build, host and scale webapplications through data centers as provided by Microsoft Corporationof Redmond, Wash. and Amazon Web Services™, also marketed as AWS™ cloudcomputing platform as provided by Amazon.com of Seattle Wash. andcomprising the Elastic Compute Cloud™ , also marketed as AMAZON EC2™,scalable computational service and the AMAZON S3™ online data storageweb service.

Referring now to FIG. 3, FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of anexemplary first gift account record G.REC.1. It is understood that oneor more additional gift account records G.REC.2-G.REC.N may compriseone, some or all of the gift data fields G.DF.1-G.DF.12 and containinformation respectively relating to one or more alternate giftaccounts.

The first gift data field G.DF.1 includes a record identifier RID of theinstant gift account record G.REC.1. The second gift data field G.DF.2contains an account identifier ACCT.ID that uniquely identifies anexemplary first gift account. A third gift account data field G.DF.3records an adjustable monetary value M.VAL. A fourth gift data fieldG.DF.4 includes an actual name value NAME.VAL of a person to whomownership or control of a credit or debit account identified by theinstant account identifier ACCT.ID is assigned. It is understood thatthe actual name value NAME.VAL may be a pseudonym or a name shared bytwo or more entities. A fifth gift data field G.DF.5 contains a username value USER.VAL. A sixth gift data field G.DF.6 contains a personalidentification number value PIN.VAL. A seventh gift data field G.DF.7contains a postal address POSTAL.ADDR related to or supplied by a personor entity identified by or associated with the actual name valueNAME.VAL contained in the fourth gift data field G.DF.4. An eighth giftdata field G.DF.8 includes a first financial services network addressFIN.NA1 of a financial services server 18 & 20. A ninth gift data fieldG.DF.9 includes a benefactor network address B.NA2 of a benefactor whoprovided the exemplary first gift card account to the beneficiary. Atenth gift data field G.DF.10 includes a web address

W.NA3 of a photo sharing webservice server 15. An eleventh gift datafield G.DF.11 includes a user identifier USER.ID that identifies, or isassociable with, the beneficiary of the exemplary first gift accountand/or a network address related to the beneficiary. A twelfth gifthistory data field G.DF.12 includes history data H.1-H.N related to theinstant exemplary first gift account. It is understood that the networkaddresses FIN.NA1, B.NA2, W.NA3 & DEST.ADDR4 referred to herein may bean email address, a social networking account name address, a smallmessage service address, an account name of the TWITTER™ socialnetworking service, a texting address or a telephone number. It isfurther understood that the one or more of the contents first gift datafield G.DF.1 and the third gift data field G.DF.3 through the twelfthgift data field G.DF.12 may be optional in one or more various preferredembodiments of the invented method.

Referring now to FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a schematic illustration of anexemplary first gift message M.REC.1 that is generated in the process ofan instant purchase according to one aspect of invented method. It isunderstood that one or more additional gift messages M.REC.2-M.REC.N maycomprise one, some or all of the message data fields M.DF.1-M.DF.10 andcontain information respectively relating to one or more alternatepurchases. The first message data field M.DF.1 includes a messageidentifier MID of the instant gift message M.REC.1. The second messagedata field M.DF.2 contains a message sender address SRC.ADDR, or sourceaddress, that uniquely identifies a network address of an originator ofthe instant first gift message M.REC.1, i.e. a network address of thePOS system 10 or a network address of the mobile device 8. A third giftaccount data field M.DF.3 specifies a destination address DEST.ADDR ofthe instant gift message M.REC.1, e.g., a network address the financialserver network address FIN.NA1, the benefactor network address B.ADDR,or the photo-share webservice server W.NA3. A fourth message data fieldM.DF.4 includes the gift account identifier ACCT.ID from which amonetary value is deducted in the execution of the instant purchase. Afifth message data field M.DF.5 includes an image document IMAGE.DATAthat relates to an item purchased in the instant purchase, e.g., adigitized photograph of the item purchased or of a generic image of theitem purchased. A sixth message data field M.DF.6 includes an imagenetwork address IMAGE.ADDR at where a digitized representation of animage related to the instant purchase may be found, e.g., the networkaddress W.ADDR.3 of the photo sharing webservice server 15. A seventhmessage data field M.DF.7 includes an item identifier ITEM.ID thatuniquely identifies the item ITEM.1-ITEM.N purchased in the instantpurchase, either generically or by unit-specific identification. It isunderstood that the purchased item ITEM.1-ITEM.N may be a good or aservice, or a license, lease, or permission to use or access a good,service, equipment, locale or venue.

An optional eighth gift history data field M.DF.8 includes merchantidentified MERCH.ID that identifies the merchant entity with which theinstant purchase was executed. An optional ninth user identifier datafield M.DF.9 includes the user identifier USER.ID of the exemplary firstgift account record G.REC.1. An optional tenth gift message history datafield M.DF.10 includes account information supplied by a user of theinstant gift card 2 or instant gift account identified by the accountidentifier ACCT.ID or read by the POS system 10 or the mobile device 8directly from the gift card 2, wherein account information may be orinclude such as (a.) the actual name value NAME.VAL; (b.) the user namevalue USER.VAL; (c.) personal identification number value PIN.VAL;and/or (d.) the postal address POSTAL.ADDR.

Referring now to FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is a process chart of a first aspect ofthe invented system. In step 5.02 the exemplary first gift accountG.REC.1 is established wherein the first gift account record G.REC.1 iscreated and the gift data fields are populated G.DF.1-G.DF.12. In step5.04 an item is selected for purchase, and in step 5.06 a purchase ofthe selected item is executed. In step 5.08 a digitized imagerepresenting the purchased item is acquired and the acquired digitizedimage is inserted into one or more gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N formedin step 5.10. It is understood that the digitized image representing thepurchased item may be generated or provided by the mobile device 8, thePOS system 10, or selected from the photo share webservice server 17. Instep 5.12 the gift message(s) formed in step 5.10 transmitted to thefinancial services network address FIN.ADDR.1, the beneficiary addressB.NA2 and/or the photo-sharing server address W.ADDR6.

Referring now to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a process chart of the interaction ofan exemplary first gift card G.CARD.1 within the invented method,wherein the first gift card G.CARD.1 is an instantiation of the giftcard 2. In step 6.02 some or all of the data of the exemplary first giftaccount G.REC.1 is written into an accessible memory of the first giftcard G.CARD.1, wherein the accessible memory may be or comprise or becomprised within the EMV chip 2.C, the RFID 2.E and/or the magneticstrip 2.G. Furthermore, optionally or additionally in step 6.02 imagesmay be imprinted onto a surface of the first gift card G.CARD.1, such as(a.) the QR™ bar code that may include a network address FIN.NA1 of afinancial server 18 & 20 (b.) the gift account number 2.B and optionallypresenting or comprising the account number of the gift accountidentifier ACCT.ID; (c.) the hologram 2.C; and/or (d.) the security code2H, wherein the security code may comprise the personal identifiernumber PIN.

The first gift card G.CARD.1 is presented to the POS system 10 in step6.06, and the purchase is recorded in the gift card memory G.CARD.M instep 6.08. In step 6.06 the POS system 10 may optionally read certaininformation from the EMV chip 2.C, the RFID 2.E and/or the magneticstrip 2.G of first gift card G.CARD1, and/or certain other informationof the first gift account record G.REC.1 may be supplied by a user ofthe card to a sales person wherein the sales person manually entersinformation into the POS system 10 by means of the POS input module 10D.Still optionally or additionally, certain yet other information of thefirst gift account record G.REC.1 may be supplied by a user of themobile device 8 by input through the mobile input module 8D and/oraccess from the mobile memory 8G and transmission through the network 4.

Referring now to FIG. 7, FIG. 7 is a flowchart of another aspect of thepresent invention performed by either the mobile device 8 or the POSsystem 10. Steps 7.02 through 7.12 will now be discussed as beingexecuted by the POS system 10, yet it is understood that one, some, orall of these steps 7.02 through 7.12 may be executed by the mobiledevice 8. In step 7.02 the POS system 10 signs onto the network 4 andinitiates a purchasing session with the retail webservice server 16. Instep 7.04 the POS system 10 receives an item identifier ITEM.ID andselects or receives an image IMAGE.DATA in step 7.07. A purchase of theitem corresponding to the selected item identifier ITEM.ID of step 7.04is executed in step 7.08 in communication with the retail webserviceserver 16 and with approval by the FAD server 12. A purchase record istransmitted from the POS system 10 to retail webservice server 16 instep 7.10. The exemplary first gift message M.REC.1 is formed andpopulated with data related to the purchase of step 7.08 in step 7.14,and the first gift message M.REC.1 is transmitted in step 7.12 to thefinancial services network address FIN.ADDR.1, the beneficiary addressB.NA2 and/or the photo-sharing server address W.ADDR.5, whereby thedigitized image IMAGE.DATA representing the purchased item is addressedfor delivery to the benefactor, the photo-share webservice and/or theFAD server 12.

Referring now to FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a flow chart of the process of theFAD server 12 in accordance with certain aspects of the invented methodwherein an item is purchased by and a digitized image representing theitem is acquired, online communication over the network 4. Thebeneficiary initiates an online session with the FAD server 12 over thenetwork 4. In step 8.04 the FAD server 12 receives a purchase requestform either the mobile device 8 or the POS system 10. The FAD server 12determines whether to approve the instant purchase request in step 8.06,and proceeds on to alternate operations in step 8.08 when determiningnot to accept the instant purchase request received in step 8.05. TheFAD server 12 may elect to not accept the instant purchase request instep 8.06 when, for example, valid identifying data related to thebeneficiary is not received in step 8.04 or there is not a sufficientmonetary balance recorded in the first gift account G.REC.1 to cover therequested purchase. When the FAD server 12 determines to accept thepurchase request in step 8.06, the FAD server 12 records the giftaccount funds debit in the gift account record G.REC.1 in step 8.10. TheFAD server 12 determines in step 8.12 if there is a monetary balanceleft in the instant gift account record G.REC.1 after the fundsreduction of step 8.08, and informs the sender when there is noremaining balance in step 8.14. The FAD server 12 proceeds from eitherstep 8.12 or step 8.14 to step 8.08 and to perform alternatecomputational operations.

Referring now to FIG. 9, FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the mobiledevice 8. The mobile device includes a central processing unit 8A, adigital camera module 8B, a display module 8C that may include a touchscreen enabled for data input, a mobile input module 8D that enables auser to input information into the mobile device 8, a wirelesscommunications module 8E, a mobile global positioning system module 8F,a mobile memory 8G and a SIM card interface module 8H. An internalcommunications interface 8I enables bi-directional communication betweenthe central processing unit 8A and the digital camera module 8B, thedisplay module 8C, the mobile input module 8D, the wirelesscommunications module 8E, the mobile global positioning system module8F, the mobile memory 8G and the SIM card interface module 8H. Themobile camera 8B enables a user to generate a digitized photograph of apurchased item or of an image or symbol representing a purchased item.The wireless communications module 8E bi-directionally communicativelycouples mobile device 8 to the network 8 by means of wirelesscommunications means and methods. The SIM card interface module 8Hindividually accepts a plurality of SIM cards 8J, wherein a SIM card 8Jis a subscriber identification module provided in accordance with asuitable standard provided by the European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the mobile memory 8G. The mobilememory 8G stores a mobile device operating system SW.1, a mobile systemsoftware SW.2, a TELCOM software SW.3, a Wi-Fi software SW.4, aphotographic system software SW.5, a mobile database management systemsoftware SW.6, and a web browser SW.7. The mobile operating systemsoftware SW.1 enables the mobile device 8 to coordinate and employ theelements 8A-8J of the mobile device 8 in accordance with the inventedmethod. The mobile system software SW.2 enables the mobile device 8 toperform aspects of the invented method as disclosed herein. The TELCOMsoftware SW.3 enables the mobile device 8 to bi-directionallycommunicate with the telephony network 7. The Wi-Fi software SW.4enables the mobile device 8 to bi-directionally with the transponder 22and thereby with the network 4. The photographic software SW.5 enablesthe mobile device 8 to apply the mobile camera module 8B to generate adigitized photograph of a purchased item and insert the digitizedphotograph IMAGE.DATA into the fifth message data field M.DF.5 of one ormore gift messages M.REC.1-M.REC.N. The mobile database managementsystem software SW.6 includes a plurality of databases DB.1-DB.N thatmay contain a plurality of gift account records G.REC.1-G.REC.N, aplurality of gift messages M.REC.1-M.REC.N, and a plurality ofidentification data records ID.1-ID.N. The plurality of identificationdata records ID.1-ID.N may be used to attest to the identity of thebeneficiary when requesting a purchase on the basis of a gift card 2 ora gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N.

Referring now to FIG. 11, FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the POSsystem 10. The POS system 10 includes a POS central processing unit 10A,a POS digital camera 10B, a POS output display module 10C that includesa display screen, a POS input module 10D, a POS card reader 10E, a POSRFID reader 10F, a POS wireless communications module 10G, and a POSsystem memory 10H. The POS central processing unit 10A, the POS digitalcamera 10B, the POS output display module 10C, the POS input module 10D,the POS card reader 10E, the POS RFID reader 10F, the POS wirelesscommunications module 10G, and the POS system memory 10H arebi-directionally communicatively coupled by a POS internalcommunications bus 10I. A POS operating system software SW.P1 enablesthe POS system 10 to coordinate and employ the elements 10A-10I of thePOS system 10 in accordance with the invented method. A POS systemsoftware SW.P2 enables the POS system 10 to perform aspects of theinvented method as disclosed herein. A POS communications softwareenables the POS network communications module 10G to bi-directionallycouple the POS system 10 with the network 4. A POS database managementsystem software SW.P4 includes a plurality of POS databases DB.P1-DB.PNthat may contain a plurality of gift account records G.REC.1-G.REC.N, aplurality of gift messages M.REC.1-M.REC.N, and a plurality ofidentification data records ID.1-ID.N. The plurality of identificationdata records ID.1-ID.N may be used to attest to the identity of thebeneficiary when requesting a purchase on the basis of a gift card 2 ora gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N, and include the personalidentification number PIN.VAL, the user identifier USER.ID, the securitycode 2.H of the instant gift card 2, the postal address POSTAL.ADDR,and/or the user name USER.VAL of one or more gift card recordsG.REC.1-G.REC.N.

Referring now to FIG. 12, FIG. 12 is a schematic of the FAD server 12.The FAD server 12 includes a FAD central processing unit 12A, a FADinput module 12B, a FAD output module 12C, a FAD wireless communicationsmodule 12D, and a FAD server memory 12E. The FAD central processing unit12A, the FAD input module 12B, the FAD output module 12C, the FADwireless communications module 12D, and the FAD server memory 12E arebi-directionally communicatively coupled by a FAD internalcommunications bus 12F. A FAD operating system software SW.F1 enablesthe FAD server 12 to coordinate and employ the elements 12A-121 of theFAD server 12 in accordance with the invented method. A FAD serversoftware SW.F2 enables the FAD server 12 to perform aspects of theinvented method as disclosed herein. A FAD communications softwareenables the FAD network communications module 10D to bi-directionallycouple the FAD server 12 with the network 4. A FAD database managementsystem software SW.F4 includes a plurality of FAD databases DB.F1-DB.FNthat may contain a plurality of gift account records G.REC.1-G.REC.N, aplurality of gift messages M.REC.1-M.REC.N, and a plurality ofidentification data records ID.1-ID.N. The plurality of identificationdata records ID.1-ID.N may be used to attest to the identity of thebeneficiary when requesting a purchase on the basis of a gift card 2 ora gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N.

Referring now to FIG. 13, FIG. 13 is a flowchart of an alternatepurchase reporting process of the invented method that is executable bythe mobile device 8 in communication with the network 4 and the POSsystem 10. The process of FIG. 13 may preferably be initiated after apurchase process effected by access to gift account recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N, such as the exemplary first gift card record G.REC.1,has been completed. In step 13.02 the mobile device 8 creates andformats a gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N, such as the exemplary first giftmessage M.REC.1. In step 13.04 the mobile device harvests data from thegift card record G.REC.1-G.REC.N selected for and applied in thereferenced purchase process. The mobile device 8 then populates the giftmessage M.REC.1-M.REC.N created in step 12.02 with data harvested fromthe gift card account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N selected in step 13.04. Forexample, the benefactor address B.NA2 of the selected gift card recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N may be inserted into the instant gift messageM.REC.1-M.REC.N as the addressee data DEST.ID. Alternately, thefinancial services network address FIN.ADDR.1 of the financial servicesserver 18 read from the selected gift card record G.REC.1-G.REC.N may beinserted into the instant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N as the addresseedata DEST.ID. Additional information, such as the user identifierUSER.ID, the gift card account identifier ACCT.ID, and accounthistorical data H.1-H.N may be read into the instant gift messageM.REC.1-M.REC.N in step 13.06. Optionally and additionally, an itemidentifier ITEM.ID may be read into the instant gift messageG.REC.1-G.REC.N in step 13.08, wherein the item identifier may beacquired from the POS system 10 and the item identifier ITEM.ID isassociated with an item of the purchase process associated with theinstant gift message G.REC.1-G.REC.

The mobile device 8 acquires a digitized image of the referenced item,or an image data address that is associated with a digitized image dataaccessible to the or via network 4, in step 13.08. It is understood thatthe digitized image data acquired in step 13.08 may include digitizedauditory data, digitized visual data, e.g., photographic data or videodata, and/or other digitized data that may be rendered to generatesensory displays, i.e., visual images or sound output.

The digitized image data or image data address may, in step 13.08,alternately be (a.) generated by a digital photograph device or adigital camera module of the mobile device 8, the POS system; (b.) readfrom a mobile memory 8G of the mobile device 8; (c.) uploaded from adigital storage medium, such as a SIM Card 8J; or (d.) downloaded from aphoto sharing web service web 14 or other system or server of thenetwork 4 accessible via the network 1. The digitized image data orimage data address is written into the image data field M.DF.5 of theinstant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N in step 13.14 and the instant giftmessage M.REC.1-M.REC.N is transmitted via the network 4 to thebenefactor address B.ADDR.2, the financial services network addressFIN.ADDR.1, or the photo sharing web server address W.NA3 in step 13.12.The mobile device 8 proceeds from step 13.12 and to step 13.14 and toperform alternate computational operations.

Referring now to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an alternatepurchase reporting process of the invented method that is executable bythe POS system 10 in communication with the network 4 and the mobiledevice 8. The process of FIG. 14 may preferably be initiated after apurchase process effected by access to gift account recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N, such as the exemplary first gift card record G.REC.1,has been completed. In step 14.02 the POS system 10 creates and formatsa gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N, such as the exemplary first gift messageM.REC.1. In step 14.04 the mobile device harvests data from the giftcard record G.REC.1-G.REC.N selected for and applied in the referencedpurchase process. The POS system 10 then populates the gift messageM.REC.1-M.REC.N created in step 12.02 with data harvested from the giftcard account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N selected in step 14.04. For example,the benefactor address B.NA2 of the selected gift card recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N may be inserted into the instant gift messageM.REC.1-M.REC.N as the addressee data DEST.ID. Alternately, thefinancial services network address FIN.ADDR.1 of the financial servicesserver 18 read from the selected gift card record G.REC.1-G.REC.N may beinserted into the instant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N as the addresseedata DEST.ID. Additional information, such as the user identifierUSER.ID, the gift card account identifier ACCT.ID, and accounthistorical data H.1-H.N may be written into the instant gift messageM.REC.1-M.REC.N in step 14.06. Optionally and additionally, an itemidentifier ITEM.ID may be read into the instant gift messageG.REC.1-G.REC.N in step 14.08, wherein the item identifier may beacquired from the POS system 10 and the item identifier ITEM.ID isassociated with an item of the purchase process associated with theinstant gift message G.REC.1-G.REC.

The POS system 10 in step 14.08 both (a.) acquires a digitized image ofthe referenced item, or an image data address that is associated with adigitized image data accessible to the or via network 4; and (b.)determines whether a digitized image or an image data address isactually located or accessed. When the POS system 10 determines in step14.08 that neither an accessible digitized image nor an image dataaddress has been neither located nor accessed, the POS system 10 returnsfrom step 14.08 to step 14.06.

It is understood that the digitized image data acquired in step 14.08may include digitized auditory data, digitized visual data, e.g.,photographic data or video data, and/or other digitized data that may berendered to generate sensory displays, i.e., visual images or soundoutput.

The digitized image data or image data address may, according to step14.08, alternately be (a.) generated by a digital photograph device or adigital camera module of the mobile device 8, the POS system 10; (b.)read from the system memory 10H of the POS system 10; (c.) uploaded froma digital storage medium, such as a SIM Card 8J; or (d.) downloaded froma photo sharing webservice web 14 or other system or server of thenetwork 4 accessible via the network 1. When the POS system 10determines in step 14.08 that either an accessible digitized image or animage data address has been located or accessed, the POS system 10proceeds from step 14.08 to step 14.10.

The digitized image data or image data address is written into the imagedata field M.DF.5 of the instant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N in step14.10 and the instant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N is transmitted viathe network 4 to the benefactor address B.ADDR.2, the financial servicesnetwork address FIN.ADDR.1, or the photo sharing web server addressW.NA3 in step 14.12. The POS system 10 proceeds from step 14.12 and tostep 14.14 and to perform alternate computational operations.

Referring now to FIG. 15, FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an alternate andoptional online purchasing process of the invented method that isexecutable by the mobile device 8, or other suitable electroniccomputational or communications device, in communication with thenetwork 4 and the POS system 10. The user directs a web browser to aretail website maintained by the retail webservice server 16 in step15.02 and in step 15.04 selects an item for purchase from the webpagerendered by the web browser SW.7 of the mobile device 8. The mobiledevice 8 provides a gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N in step 15.06 toa universal resource locater associated with, indicated by or referencedby the rendered webpage to effect a purchase of the item selected instep 15.04. The mobile device 8 determines in step 15.08 whether theretail webservice server 16 has communicated that a purchase process hasbeen completed. When the mobile device 8 determines in step 15.08 thatthe retail webservice server 16 has not communicated that a purchaseprocess has been completed, or indicates that a purchase process hasfailed, the mobile device 8 proceeds from step 15.08 to step 15.10 andto perform alternate computational or communications processes.

Alternately, when the mobile device 8 determines in step 15.08 that theretail webservice server 16 has not communicated that a purchase processhas been completed, or indicates that a purchase process has failed, themobile device 8 proceeds from step 15.08 to step 15.12 and to acquiredigitized image data, or an address where digitized image data islocated at or accessible from. The mobile device 8 creates an instantgift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N in step 15.14 and populates the instantgift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N in step 15.16 with data either acquired instep 15.12 and/or harvested from the gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.Nof step 15.06. The instant gift message M.REC.1-M.REC.N created is step15.14 and populated with data in step 15.16 is transmitted via thenetwork 4 in step 15.18. The mobile device 8 proceeds from step 15.18 tostep 15.20 and to perform alternate computational or communicationsprocesses.

Referring now to FIG. 16, FIG. 16 is a flow chart of a software codeexecutable by the POS system 10 in communication with the network 4 andthe mobile device 8 and wherein the POS system 10 that imposes one ormore optional purchase aspects of the invented method, wherein a user isrequired to identify himself or herself as authorized to apply a giftaccount record G.REC.1-G.REC.N in order to apply the instant gift cardaccount G.REC.1-G.REC.N. In step 16.02 the POS system 10 receives theinstant gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N and determines in step 16.04whether a user authorization information is required by means of useridentification or other provision of an authorization data. The requireduser authentication information may be or include the personalidentification number PIN.VAL, the user identifier USER.ID, the securitycode 2.H of the instant gift card 2, the postal address POSTAL.ADDR,and/or the user name USER.VAL of the instant gift card recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N. Alternately or additionally, required userauthentication information may include or be information read directlyform elements of the card, e.g., the hologram 2.D, the RFID 2.E, the EMVchip 2.C, the QR™ code 2.F, the security code 2.H and/or the magneticstrip 2.G.

When the POS system 10 determines in step 16.04 that no userauthorization is required to permit application of the received giftaccount record G.REC.1-G.REC.N of step 16.02, the POS system proceedsfrom step 16.04 to step 16.06 to process a purchase request or anattempted purchase request, and from step 16.06 to step 16.08 and toperform alternate computational processes.

When the POS system 10 determines in step 16.04 that user authorizationis required to permit application of the received gift account recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N of step 16.02, the POS system proceeds from step 16.04to step 16.10 and to determine whether the user has provided sufficientidentification or authentication data to authorize application of thereceived gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N of step 16.02. When the POSsystem 10 determines in step 16.10 that the user has not providedsufficient identification or authentication data to authorizeapplication of the received gift account record G.REC.1-G.REC.N of step16.02, the POS system 10 reports this failure in step 18.12 to one ormore financial services servers 18 & 20 and/or the mobile device 8. Themobile device 8 proceeds from step 16.12 to step 16.14 and to performalternate computational or communications processes.

When the POS system 10 determines in steps 16.10 16.16 that the user hasprovided sufficient and verified identification or authentication datato authorize application of the received gift account recordG.REC.1-G.REC.N of step 16.02, the POS system proceeds from step 16.16to step 16.06 to process a purchase request or an attempted purchaserequest, and from step 16.06 to step 16.08 and to perform alternatecomputational processes.

The foregoing disclosures and statements are illustrative only, and arenot intended to limit or define the scope of the invention. The abovedescription is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. Althoughthe examples given herein include many specificities, they are intendedas illustrative of only certain possible configurations or aspects ofthe invention. The examples given should only be interpreted asillustrations of some of the preferred configurations or aspects of theinvention and the full scope of the invention should be determined bythe appended claims and their legal equivalents. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of thejust-described preferred embodiments can be configured without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that the invention may be practiced other than asspecifically described herein. The scope of the present invention asdisclosed and claimed should, therefore, be determined with reference tothe knowledge of one skilled in the art and in light of the disclosurespresented above.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of communicating purchases made using agift card, performed at a server computer of a third party, comprising:receiving a request from a benefactor at a remote device to establish agift card account for a beneficiary, wherein the request includesauthorization to fund the gift card account with a designated sum ofmoney; in response to the request from the benefactor, creating a giftcard account record in a database at the server computer, wherein thegift card account record stores an identifier of the beneficiary, anaccount credit equal to the designated sum of money, and contactinformation of the benefactor; receiving a request from the beneficiaryto purchase an item using at least a portion of the account credit fromthe gift card account; receiving or acquiring a digital identifier ofthe item; and in response to the request from the beneficiary:authorizing the requested purchase; and sending a gift message to thebenefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the giftcard account record, wherein the gift message includes the digitalidentifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of thebeneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from thegift card account to purchase the purchased item.
 2. The method of claim1, wherein the digital identifier is a digital image that represents theitem.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the digital image is acquired bya point of sale system using an image data address accessible by thepoint of sale system.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the digitalimage is acquired by a digital camera of a mobile device of thebeneficiary.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the gift message is sentas an email message.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the digitalidentifier is received with the request from the beneficiary.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the digital identifier is received oracquired subsequent to receiving the request from the beneficiary.
 8. Aserver computer of a third party for communicating purchases made usinga gift card, comprising: one or more processors; memory; and one or moreprograms stored in the memory configured for execution by the one ormore processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:receiving a request from a benefactor at a remote device to establish agift card account for a beneficiary, wherein the request includesauthorization to fund the gift card account with a designated sum ofmoney; in response to the request from the benefactor, creating a giftcard account record in a database at the server computer, wherein thegift card account record stores an identifier of the beneficiary, anaccount credit equal to the designated sum of money, and contactinformation of the benefactor; receiving a request from the beneficiaryto purchase an item using at least a portion of the account credit fromthe gift card account; receiving or acquiring a digital identifier ofthe item; and in response to the request from the beneficiary:authorizing the requested purchase; and sending a gift message to thebenefactor using the benefactor contact information stored in the giftcard account record, wherein the gift message includes the digitalidentifier of the purchased item, includes the identifier of thebeneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiary has used credit from thegift card account to purchase the purchased item.
 9. The server computerof claim 8, wherein the digital identifier is a digital image thatrepresents the item.
 10. The server computer of claim 9, wherein theinstructions for receiving the digital image comprise instructions foracquiring the digital image by a point of sale system using an imagedata address accessible by the point of sale system.
 11. The servercomputer of claim 9, wherein the instructions for receiving the digitalimage comprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a digitalcamera of a mobile device of the beneficiary.
 12. The server computer ofclaim 8, wherein the instructions for sending the gift message compriseinstructions for sending the gift message as an email message.
 13. Theserver computer of claim 8, wherein the instructions for receiving thedigital identifier and the instructions for receiving the request fromthe beneficiary comprise instructions for receiving the digitalidentifier with the request from the beneficiary.
 14. The servercomputer of claim 8, wherein the instructions for receiving the digitalidentifier comprise instructions for receiving or acquiring the digitalidentifier subsequent to receiving the request from the beneficiary. 15.A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or moreprograms configured for execution by a server computer of a third partyhaving one or more processors and memory storing one or more programsconfigured for execution by the one or more processors, the one or moreprograms comprising instructions for: receiving a request from abenefactor at a remote device to establish a gift card account for abeneficiary, wherein the request includes authorization to fund the giftcard account with a designated sum of money; in response to the requestfrom the benefactor, creating a gift card account record in a databaseat the server computer, wherein the gift card account record stores anidentifier of the beneficiary, an account credit equal to the designatedsum of money, and contact information of the benefactor; receiving arequest from the beneficiary to purchase an item using at least aportion of the account credit from the gift card account; receiving oracquiring a digital identifier of the item; and in response to therequest from the beneficiary: authorizing the requested purchase; andsending a gift message to the benefactor using the benefactor contactinformation stored in the gift card account record, wherein the giftmessage includes the digital identifier of the purchased item, includesthe identifier of the beneficiary, and indicates that the beneficiaryhas used credit from the gift card account to purchase the purchaseditem.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim15, wherein the digital identifier is a digital image that representsthe item.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein the instructions for receiving the digital imagecomprise instructions for acquiring the digital image by a point of salesystem using an image data address accessible by the point of salesystem.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim16, wherein the instructions for receiving the digital image compriseinstructions for acquiring the digital image by a digital camera of amobile device of the beneficiary.
 19. The non-transitory computerreadable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions forsending the gift message comprise instructions for sending the giftmessage as an email message.
 20. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions for receiving thedigital identifier and the instructions for receiving the request fromthe beneficiary comprise instructions for receiving the digitalidentifier with the request from the beneficiary, or instructions forreceiving or acquiring the digital identifier subsequent to receivingthe request from the beneficiary.